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Show ' By ELMO SCOTT WATSON bV SOME one suddenly de- Jmanded that you name the fourteenth President of the United States, could you do It? Or if they said, "Who ijb & was President just before Millard Fillmore and who 0 Just after lilm?" could you mL answer promptly? If you were one of those persons who, as a schoolboy school-boy or girl, had to learn "The Presidents Presi-dents In Rhyme," perhaps you could. Don't you remember it that long string of couplets which listed the Presidents In order and to which some one added another couplet whenever n new Chief Executive was elected? If you didn't, here It Is: First stands the lofty Washington, That noble, great, immortal one. The elder Adams next we see, And Jefferson comes number three. The fourth Is Madison, you know, The fifth on the list, Monroe. The sixth an Adams comes again. And Jackson seventh in the train. Van Buren eighth upon the line, And Harrison counts number nine. The tenth Is Tyler, in his turn, And Potk the eleventh, as we learn. The twelfth is Taylor that appears, The thirteenth Fillmore fills his years. Then Pierce comes fourteenth into view; Buchnnan Is the fifteenth due. Now Lincoln comes two terms to fill, But God o'errules the people's will, And Johnson fills the appointed time Cut short by nn assassin's crime. Next Grant assumes the lofty seat, The man who never knew defeat. Two terms to him: then Hayes succeeds. And quietly the nation leads. Garfield comes next, the people's choice But soon ascends a mourning voice From every hamlet in the land. A brutal wretch with murderous hand' Strikes down the country's chosen chief. And anxious millions mourn in grief. Arthur's term was then begun, Which made the number twenty-one. Then came the "Man of Destiny," Honest and strong in policy, Grover Cleveland, whose first term Made the politicians squirm. But when election day rolled round Harrison was more popular found . A man of Intellectual mold, In action cautious, manner cold. So when his single term was over There followed four years more of Grover. McKinhsy then, the well-beloved, A most efficient pilot proved. A crazed assassin laid him low Again the nation voiced Its woe. To fill the interrupted term, "Our Teddy" followed, staunch and firm, A fighting statesman, forceful, true, And brilliant as a scholar, too. He taught the nation strenuous life, Yet kept it from internal strife. Next Taft, the jurist, reached the goal. Four quiet years he held control. Then Woodrow Wilson, Princeton man, Eight fateful years of rule began, For under him our armies brave Went forth a whole world's peace to . save. The war was won, but at what cost The nation soon this leader lost. Tri peace was Harding's "term begun, But death claimed him 'ere it was done Then Calvin Coolidgre, calm and cool, Gave to our states a cautious rule. r.ut what couplet will be added next? Will it be something like this: Now Herbert Hoover of Belgian fame Adds to the list the thirtieth name. Or will it read something like this: And now the roll call here ends with Jipmocracy's champion, Alfred Smith. The answer will be written on November G. But whichever it is, some new items will be added to the record of what may be called "Interesting "Inter-esting Facts About Our Presidents." First of all, consider the "historical firsts" which will be written into the annals of the nation, no matter whether wheth-er the next occupant of the White House is Herbert C. Hoover or Alfred E. Smith.' If Hoover is elected President he will be The first bearing the name of Herbert. Her-bert. The first who was a native of Iowa. The first born west of the Mississippi. The first who was a citizen of California. The first elected from the trans-Mississippi trans-Mississippi West. The first who was a Quaker In religion. re-ligion. The first secretary of commerce to be elevated to the Presidency. The first mining engineer to occupy the White House. If Smith is elected President he will be - The first bearing the name of Alfred. The first who was a Catholic in religion. re-ligion. The first market man to become Chief Executive. Although Hoover, if elected, will bring more "firsts," as shown above, Smith, if elected, will be a better example ex-ample of "history repeating Itself." Hoover as cabinet member becoming President will be the tenth to do that. Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, John Quincy Adams, Martin Van Buren and James Buchanan ail served as secretary secre-tary of state before they became President, Pres-ident, and Monroe, Grant and Taft served terms as secretary of war. So the promotion from the cabinet to the White House will be Hoover's only example of following precedent. Should Smith he elected he will be the fourth President horn in New York and elected from that state. Martin Van Buren, Millard Fillmore and Theodore Roosevelt being the other three. He will be the sixth President elected from the Empire state, however, since Chester A Arthur and Grover Cleveland, though born in Vermont and New Jersey respectively re-spectively were residents of New York when elected. Smith will also be the second President to have been a New York sheriff, Cleveland being the first. If Smith is elected, it will be the third time that a governor of New York has gone from the execu tlve mansion In Albany to the White House. The other two were Van Buren and Roosevelt. If Smith Is elected, it will place New Y'ork on almost an even basis with Virginia and Ohio as a training ground for Presidents. The Old Dominion still rightfully retains her title of "Mother of Presidents", with seven men born on her soil who became be-came President. They were Washington, Washing-ton, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Harrison, Har-rison, Tyler and Wilson, although Harrison and Wilson were elected from Ohio and New Jersey respectively. respec-tively. Ohio's record is six native sons elected to the Presidency. They were Grant (who was elected from Illinois, however), Hayes, Garfield, McKinley, Taft and Harding. Since the religious issue has been so prominent in the present campaign, it Is interesting to note the variety of religions which have been represented repre-sented in the White House. There have been eight different sects and whichever way the election goes this year a. ninth is due to be added. Fight Presidents have been Episcopalians, Episco-palians, seven Presbyterians, four Methodists, three Unitarians, two of the Reformed Dutch faith, one Baptist, Bap-tist, one a member of the Disciples. President Coolidge is a Congregation alist. Thomas Jefferson was classed as a Liberal and a noted biographer declares de-clares that he was a believer in Christianity, although not a sectarian. While President Johnson was not a church member he was a Christian believer and his wife was a 'Methodist, 'Metho-dist, resulting in him being accredited to that faith. The Presidents who were Episcopalians Episco-palians were Washington, Madison. Monroe, Harrison, Tyler, Taylor. Pierce and Arthur. Those claimed as Presbyterians were Jackson, Pulk. Buchanan, Lincoln, Cleveland. Harn son and Wilson. The Methodists were Johnson, Grant, Hayes and McKinley. John Quincy Adams. Fillmore and Taft were Unitarians. Van Buren and Roosevelt were of the Reformed Dutch Faith. Harding was a -Baptist and Garfield a Disciple. Seventeen of the Presidents were oi English ancestry, six of Scotch-Irish, two were mostly Scotch and two of Dutch descent, one chiefly Welsh and another Scotch and Dutch. Fifteen Presidents were sons of farmers and planters, four were sons of lawyers, three of merchants, three of clergymen, and one each of a doctor, doc-tor, a constable, a tanner and an Iron maker. Eight Presidents, as well as the present nominees, were born of families fam-ilies not blessed with worldly goods. Others were born In varied circumstances, circum-stances, mostly middle-class. Although born of poor parents, Washington became be-came one of the rich landowners of his day. while none of the others attained at-tained riches. If fate should decree the election of Herbert Hoover, whose wealth is estimated - at several million dollars, he will probably enter the White House as the richest President ever to assume office. There have been twenty Presidents who went to college, some of them by their own efforts. Mr. Hoover is also a college man, but Governor Smith went through the "School of Experience." Experi-ence." Fifteen Presidents were soldiers sol-diers in one or more of the wars in which America has participated. Neither of the two present nominees saw military service. , Both of the candidates this year are a little over the average age of their predecessors on inauguration, which was fifty-four, years and four months. Hoover is fifty-six and Smith is fifty-five. The average age of Presidents at their death was sixty-eight sixty-eight years and seven months. Roosevelt Roose-velt wai, at forty-two. the youngest President to assume office. Grant, Cleveland, Pierce, Poik and Garfield were Presidents before they were fifty. William Henry Harrison was the olding, being sixty-eight. Garfield Gar-field died youngest, forty-nine, the victim vic-tim of an assassin's bullet. John Adams lived the longest, to ninety. Three Presidents, Lincoln, Garfield and McKinley have been assassinated. Jackson was fired at while in office, and Roosevelt was wounded by a crank, during the campaign In which he was a candidate for a third term. Ten of the Presidents have been elected twice, They are Washington, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, Jackson, Lincoln, Grant, Cleveland, McKinley and Wilson. Eight served eight complete com-plete years all of the above except Lincoln and McKinley, the victims of assassins' bullets. William Henry Harrison had the shortest period of service as President, dying after one month in the White House. Four who served as President were never elected, being Vice Presidents who served out the terms of their Presidents who had died. They were Tyler. Fillmore, Johnson and Arthur. Two Vice Presidents, however, who were elevated to the Presidency, were afterward elected in their own right. They were Roosevelt and Coolidge. Cleveland was a two-term President whose record was unique. He served one term. 1SS5-1SS0, was defeated hy Benjamin Harrison in 1SSS but was elected again in 1S02 and served from 1893 to 1897. All Presidents were married when elected, with the exception of Buchanan, Buchan-an, Tyler, Fillmore, Benjamin Harrison. Harri-son. Roosevelt and Wilson married twice. Tyler had the most children, seven by each marriage. Washington, Madison, Jackson, Polk and Harding were childless. John Adams was the father of a President and William Henry Harrison the grandfather of one. |